The Way to Greatness
by theslytherinpaladin
Summary: When Harry's name is selected for the Triwizard Tournament under a fourth school there are a few unexpected consequences. Accidentally expelled from Hogwarts, Harry must navigate the tournament within a new House while learning that the wizarding world isn't as black and white as he had always been led to ter all, the world isn't divided into good people and Death Eaters.
1. Chapter 1

Harry stepped into the Great Hall in high spirits. With the announcement of the Triwizard Champions coming in only a few short minutes, attention at Hogwarts would be firmly situated on someone other than him. For once there would be danger at Hogwarts that didn't see him front and center. Sure, something was bound to go wrong this year. Something always did. But he legally couldn't be entered in the tournament, so that was at least one possibility avoided. Whatever else ended up happening the tournament might provide a nice distraction for the school so that his inevitable rule breaking could slip through the cracks unnoticed. It was wishful thinking, Harry acknowledged that, but he wouldn't let little things like reality bring his mood down tonight.

The Hall was already filled and buzzing with excitement, and Harry was able to slip into his seat between Hermione and Ron at the Gryffindor table relatively unnoticed. Hogwarts always went overboard with decorations for the holidays, but it seemed they had taken it up another level in light of the circumstances. Candles covered the Hall, casting the room in an eerie golden light. The pumpkins lining the tables looked out at the students with their grinning faces, but they didn't seem at all cheerful. There was a tension in the room as the students whispered about who among them would be named champions. Harry ignored the whispers as he took his seat. They weren't about him for once, and that was all that mattered at the moment. That and the food he had been looking forward to eating all day. Ron had talked about it enough that even Harry's stomach had been growling by the time classes ended for the day.

Beauxbatons and Drumstrang students were already seated throughout the Hall, waiting for the announcement that the feast could officially begin. Around him, the Gryffindors were throwing around the names of the people they wanted or didn't want for Hogwarts Champion, but Harry tuned them out as well. He had heard these arguments back and forth since the tournament had been announced, and he doubted they would have anything new to add to the conversation. All the Gryffindors wanted Angelina to be the Hogwarts Champion, but anyone would do as long as it wasn't a Slytherin. Predictable, but that meant that it wasn't likely that anyone would be able to call him out for not paying attention. Even if he didn't hear a word they said it would be easy enough to pretend.

Conversation on the tournament ground to a halt as Dumbledore announced the start of the feast and the food appeared in front of them, the student body too preoccupied for a moment with stuffing their faces to continue their well worn discussions. Harry relaxed in the assurance that this might be his new routine for the foreseeable future. Eat dinner with Ron and Hermione. Listen to gossip that surrounded other people. Halloween had never been Harry's favorite holiday, for obvious reasons, but he let himself enjoy the atmosphere of the Hall, get swept up in the excitement of the announcement. Hermione had talked about the past trials enough to know that even if the tournament was supposed to be safer this time there would still be a lot commotion brought on by the whole thing.

After a few minutes of silence as the students dug into their food, the buzz of conversation started to build again. Still the feast dragged on. Harry could have sworn he saw a twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes as the headmaster finished his own dinner as though the impatience of his students amused him. Harry couldn't find it in himself to blame him. Dumbledore had always seemed one for a flair of dramatics, and the reveal of the Triwizard Champions was an opportune moment to take full advantage of.

A hush quickly swept the Hall as Dumbledore finally stood. The candles floating across the enchanted ceiling responded to his movement, dimming until the entire room seemed washed in a faded swatch of moonlight. In the low light, the glow from the goblet seemed even more ominous. Harry hadn't paid it much attention when he entered the Great Hall. It sat in front of the staff table, blue flames flickering as it commandeered everyone's focus now that the moment had finally arrived. Harry felt a chill run down his spine, and he shivered as the goblet blazed brighter.

Harry watched the flames as Dumbledore moved around the table to stand in the goblet's shadow. Light danced across his face as the flames moved, and he raised his hands to draw the whispering to a close.

"The time has finally come," Dumbledore said, pausing as his words echoed through the Hall. "If your name is called, please make your way to the room behind me in order to receive further instructions. Whether you are chosen by the goblet or not, remember that it took a great deal of courage to enter yourself into the tournament. You should be proud of that fact, no matter the outcome. Now, let us congratulate our first champion."

Dumbledore waved his wand, and Harry felt himself holding his breath with the rest of the Hall as the fire sparked violently before spitting out a burnt piece of paper. It rose high above their heads before fluttering down into Dumbledore's outstretched hand. "From Drumstrang…Viktor Krum!"

Harry leaned back towards Hermione as Ron burst into applause beside him. His friend had been trying to keep a wrap on his crush on the international quidditch star after he continued to sit at the Slytherin table on a daily basis, but it was clear that his enthusiasm at seeing Krum be named champion had taken precedence.

Krum stood, seeming unbothered by the attention, and walked towards the door behind the staff table without a word. He would have been used to the attention, Harry felt sure, but he gave nothing away in his reaction to being named champion despite the obvious glee in his headmaster's face.

The goblet must have had a sense for the tension, because the next flash of fire spitting out a piece of burnt paper didn't spark until the door had closed behind Krum. This flash was brighter, the paper trailing flames behind it as it fell into Dumbledore's hands. "From Beauxbatons…Fleur Delacour!" Applause burst out again, a little more sedated than for Krum. She lifted her chin as she stood, as though she acknowledged the difference in support, but felt it beneath her. If people were expecting Delacour to be easy competition for Krum, Harry had the feeling they would be disappointed. Depending on who the Hogwarts Champion ended up being, Harry could see himself cheering for Delacour for her reaction to the scrutinty alone. She too disappeared to the back.

"Our last champion!" Dumbledore called, raising the crisp paper in his hand. "From Hogwarts…Cedric Diggory!"

There were some disappointed groans from the Gryffindors, but most of Hogwarts applauded as Cedric stood. If anyone wasn't pleased with Hogwarts' Champion, they wouldn't have been noticed over the roar that came from Hufflepuff. Cedric could barely get up from the table with the way the students around him were clapping him on the shoulder.

Dumbledore chuckled. "Yes, yes. You will all have time to congradulate the champions after they have received their instructions. Now-"

His words were cut off as the flames flared again and a fourth piece of paper was released into the air. Immediately the fire exstinguished along with all of Harry's hopes for a normal year as he watched the paper fall gently into Dumbledore's open hand. Why had he allowed himself to believe that this year would be any different? He hadn't had an uneventful year at Hogwarts in all the time he had attended. It should have come as absolutely no surprise that something would ruin his chance for this year to go any differently. That still didn't stop him from freezing in his seat when Dumbledore said, "Harry Potter."

Harry could feel Hermione's hand on his shoulder, could hear Ron saying something beside him, but he didn't understand a word of it. It took Dumbledore saying his name again for Harry to finally move, pushing himself to his feet and stepping away from the table. He could feel the eyes of everyone in the Hall on him, but he refused to look at any of them.

"The room, Harry," Hermione said, giving him a gentle nudge, and Harry started walking.

Dumbledore hadn't moved as Harry passed him. Harry didn't want to imagine the expression on his face. He kept his eyes forward, focused on the door. When he finally reached it, he gripped the handle with trembling hands and pushed it open. The Hall burst into whispers again just as the door started to close behind him.

Leaving the Hall didn't mean that he had escaped the stares. When he stepped into view the three champions turned towards him expectantly, but Harry had nothing to offer them in way of an explanation. He was just as confused by his presence there as they were.

"Harry?" Cedric asked, stepping towards him when no else spoke. "Did something happen?" Krum and Delacour were watching him, but they made no move where they stood on opposite sides of the room. Harry opened his mouth to respond, unsure what words would come tumbling out, but in the end he didn't have to try. Dumbledore came into the room, quickly followed by his fellow heads along with McGonagall, Snape, and Moody.

It only took a glance to see what Snape and McGonagall thought of this turn of events. Neither were pleased, although Harry suspected it was for very different reasons. Moody was harder to read, so Harry turned his attention towards Dumbledore. His opinion was probably the only one that mattered at the moment anyway.

"Harry. Did you put your name in the Goblet of Fire?" He asked, calmly.

"No," Harry said, shaking his head.

"Did you ask an older student to enter it for you?"

Would that have worked? Harry thought. Snape, at least, would have taken his curiosity the wrong way though, so Harry shook his head again. "No. I have no idea how my name was entered."

"Well, obviously the boy is lying," Madame Maxine said, her accent adding a melody to her words that Harry didn't finding soothing in the slightest in that moment. "He cannot be allowed to compete. It is unfair."

When Moody spoke, his voice sounded gruff, as though the words pained him to push passed his throat. "Are you saying your champion can't compete with a fourteen-year old?" He asked.

"That is not what I said," Maxine snapped, offended, reaching a hand out to place on Delacour's shoulders. "It is simply against the rule, as we were told them. Hogwarts should not be allowed special treatment."

Harry wanted to argue. To point out that it wasn't really special treatment if he was entered only as a way to get him killed, but he swallowed the words down, watching Dumbledore.

"The boy," Moody countered, "doesn't seem too excited about this development as he should be if he entered himself. And I think he has the right of it. Boy-Who-Lived has a lot of enemies. Easy enough to make an attempt on his life look like a task gone wrong."

Dumbledore stared at Harry, their eyes meeting. Maxine huffed again behind him, but Harry didn't look away. Dumbledore had to see that Harry had no clue what was going on, didn't he? A beat of silence passed, their eyes locked, then another. Finally, Dumbledore said, "Harry is telling the truth. While the hows and whys of his name being entered are concerning, the fact of the matter is that he will be required to compete. When a name is chosen from the Goblet of Fire it creates a magically binding contract. Even the heads of each school are unable to release the students from these contracts."

"Even if I'm underage?" Harry asked, remembering something Uncle Vernon had been telling Dudley about contracts when trying to get his son interested in his business. "If I didn't consent to being entered, and I don't have a guardian approve of me entering, can I really be held to a contract like this?"

The adults exchanged looks Harry couldn't quite decipher. "That is usually the case for normal contracts, yes, but contracts bound by magic…The goblet would not have selected your name if you couldn't legally be held to it. Magical contracts are not things that can be so easily escaped. I will look into the matter, but unless a solution can be found before the first task, I'm afraid you will have to compete, Harry. The consequences for not doing so to the best of your ability would be severe."

Their conversation continued on about possible ways that Harry's name could have been entered, with Moody and Snape breaking into an argument, but Harry felt the words washing over him without really comprehending them. There were other conversations to have, questions that he needed answers to, but at the moment all he wanted to do was go back to his dorm and climb into his bed. Spend a few hours pretending that he was back to enjoying a competition that didn't have anything to do with him. When they were finally released, McGonagall placed her hand on his shoulder, giving it a tight squeeze and an equally tight smile.

"It will be alright, Mr. Potter," she said, as the other champions walked passed them to the door. "We will find out what happened. Now, I'm sure the rest of Gryffindor is waiting to congradulate you. You shouldn't keep them waiting."

Harry walked back to the tower in a daze. In all honesty, he was surprised that he had been allowed to walk back without supervision considering the suspicious looks Maxine and Karkaroff were still giving him. Dumbledore may have believed that Harry hadn't entered himself in the tournament, but it seemed that those outside of Hogwarts hadn't been convinced. There wasn't anything he could do about that though, besides hope that Dumbledore would be able to find a way to get him out of competing. The only reason that Harry could see for someone wanting him in the tournament was to give them a convenient chance to kill him, and Harry would rather not give them more free shots at him if he could help it. Gryffindor might be disappointed, but it wouldn't be the first time Harry let them down. He doubted it would be the last.

Given that all he wanted to do was sleep, it wasn't surprising that McGonagall had been right about what was waiting for him in the common room when he stepped through the portrait at last. He was immediately met with a wave of noise. It seemed as though the entirely of Gryffindor had crammed themselves into the common room, including the new first years who seemed confused by the level of chaos. Harry couldn't blame them. Everyone was yelling their congradulations at him at once, and Harry could barely tell one voice from another.

Harry forced a smile and made his way through the crowd. As soon as people offered their congradulations they turned back to their conversations. That was fine with Harry. He wasn't in the mood to talk about what happened. No matter how many times Harry tried to explain that he hadn't put his name in the goblet, no one believed him. The most he got in response was a wink and a sarcastic "Of course you didn't!" A headache had started building by the third time he got that response, and it only grew worse every time it happened. And he still hadn't managed to find Ron or Hermione in the crowd, which worried him more than anything.

He was about to give up, decide that he couldn't take another moment of the crowd and the noise and settle for finding his friends in the morning when a headache wasn't crashing around the inside of his skull when he saw them. They were both standing by the stairs leading to the boys' dormitory, arguing. Harry felt the headache pound harder.

"Harry!" Hermione called, interrupting whatever Ron was about to say. She pulled him into a hug, but Harry still got a glimpse of her tight expression, and his stomach dropped. "I'm so sorry, Harry!"

"Sorry you couldn't have shared how you put your name in, you mean," Ron said angrily.

"I didn't put my name in, Ron," Harry said, for what had to have been the hundredth time in the last ten minutes alone.

"Sure, you didn't."

"Ron!" Hermione interjected. "Harry wouldn't have put his name in without telling us. Plus, you were there when he was talking about how glad he was that this year could be calmer than the last few have been!"

"Who else would have entered his name?" Ron asked.

Harry felt his anger rise from where it had been bubbling under the surface. "I don't know! Maybe someone who wants to kill me!" If he had been expecting Ron to back down at his outburst would have been disappointed. Ron huffed, but didn't respond, just continued to stare at Harry as if he didn't know him.

"I'm going to bed, Hermione. Maybe you can talk some sense into him, but I don't have the energy to deal with this."

"Deal with this?"

Hermione grabbed Ron's arm, pulling him aside. "Of course, Harry. Although I can't make any promises."

"Don't talk about me like I'm not here!" Ron burst out, but they continued to ignore him. If Harry responded, he knew it was going to be something he would end up regretting, even if Ron was acting like an idiot.

Hermione pulled Harry in for another hug. "You're not alone, Harry."

"Thanks, Hermione."

Harry took one last look at Ron, then pushed passed him and headed up the stairs, finally, to bed. When he opened the door to his dorm though, Harry froze. Something was wrong, and Harry stood in the doorway trying to figure out just what it was. The rest of his dorm mates were still downstairs, so the room sat in darkness aside from the little moonlight that filtered in from the windows. When it hit him, Harry felt the floor shift from under him.

There were five fourth-year boys in Gryffindor, but where there had once been five beds there were now only four. He hadn't noticed at first because the room had shifted to make up for the empty space, but Harry's things were gone.


	2. Chapter 2

Harry did not like being back in Dumbledore's office. Nothing good ever came of it, even if it wasn't necessarily for the normal reasons. Yet Harry didn't have a choice in the matter. He couldn't go back to his dorm and hide himself away in his bed. His bed wasn't in his dorm anymore. None of his things were, and a sinking feeling grew every moment he sat alone in Dumbledore's office waiting for the headmaster and McGonagall to return with the verdict.

So far, Harry had been waiting for over an hour. The party in the Gryffindor common room, had been put to an end when McGonagall came to collect him for his meeting with Dumbledore. His dorm mates had surely noticed the change by now. Were they talking about him? About what this change meant? Accusing him of entering his own name in the tournament? Then there was Ron, of course. His best friend hadn't even believed him when Harry tried to tell him that this mess wasn't his fault. Would he even be concerned that Hogwarts had kicked him out of his dorm, or would he think that this was exactly what Harry deserved? He would like to think that Ron wasn't too far gone in his anger not to be worried on Harry's behalf, but he wouldn't know until he got the chance to speak with him again. By then, everything would be resolved. Hermione, at least, had looked worried. Harry hadn't had a chance to explain to her what was going on before McGonagall had lead him out of the portrait hole. Maybe Ron still cared enough about her to fill her in on what was going on.

McGonagall had taken Harry straight to Dumbledore's office, the worried look on her face doing nothing to convince him that something wasn't horribly wrong. McGonagall had explained the situation to the headmaster briefly before they had both stepped into another room off the side of the office, leaving Harry to himself. There was nothing else for Harry to do to occupy his time while he waited besides stare at the various objects located around the room and run through the worst case scenarios. He waited so long by himself that he had almost decided to go and look for the professors himself and demand to be let in on the conversation when they both returned.

"Harry," Dumbledore said, and Harry's heart sank. Whatever Dumbledore had to tell him, it wasn't going to be good news. "It seems that the situation regarding your place in the tournament was a little more complicated than originally thought. On the bright side, we now have definitive evidence to prove that you did not enter yourself into the tournament."

Harry didn't waste time pointing out that he had already told Dumbledore this, wishing he would get on to the news that had McGonagall looking so upset.

"It seems that whoever wanted to enter you in the tournament was extremely thorough in their preparations. Withdrawal papers were filed at the ministry moments before the Goblet was retrieved for the choosing of champions. It seems that your uncle had signed them. Whoever entered your name must have done it at the very last second so that this paperwork would not be found ahead of time. As you were briefly not listed on the Hogwarts registry the magic of the Goblet did not recognize that you and Mr. Diggory attended the same school."

Harry knew that he should respond to what Dumbledore was saying, but he almost couldn't process the words. Actually knowing what to say was out of the question. His uncle had withdrawn him from Hogwarts. All the oxygen fled the room as Harry struggled to remember how to breathe.

"Now, this was most definitely a mistake on the ministry. Whoever wants to enter you must have had help within the ministry itself, because the paperwork should never have been filed in the first place, let alone that quickly. Your uncle may be your guardian, but he does not have the right to withdraw you from school. I will be looking into this to see whether I can discover the source of this error, but we will have to assume for the moment that they will have their tracks well covered. Either way, the mistake has been fixed, and you have been re-enrolled at Hogwarts.

Harry felt his emotions spinning from one extreme to another. He had been withdrawn from Hogwarts. That was why his things had disappeared. Gryffindor didn't recognize him as one of its students anymore. Who had gotten his uncle to sign the paperwork? Dumbledore had said everything was fixed though. Harry wouldn't be leaving Hogwarts. So why was McGonagall still wringing her hands behind the headmaster? Dumbledore gave him a sad smile, and whatever hope he had been clinging to that he would be able to head back to Gryffindor Tower now evaporated.

"Unfortunately, there is one last step we must complete before you can return to your dorm. When the paperwork was mistakenly filed you were removed from Gryffindor's roster. The only way to be added back is for you to be Sorted again. When that is complete Hogwarts' magic will return your belongings from where they have been waiting for you in storage."

That, of course, was the catch that Harry had been waiting for. Without thinking, his eyes drifted to where the Sorting Hat sat waiting on the uppermost shelf. Harry had never confided in McGonagall about what the Sorting Hat said during his first year. He had never told anyone, at first because his place in Gryffindor had felt too good to be true. Later, the whole school had believed that he was the Heir of Slytherin, and the knowledge that he had almost Sorted Slytherin would have only added fuel to that particular fire. After that, well, Harry was a Gryffindor. He had asked the Hat not to put in him Slytherin, and it hadn't. What did it matter that the Hat thought he would have done well in Slytherin? He wasn't in Slytherin, and that was all there was to it.

Except no, it wasn't. Because Harry would have to put that Hat on his head again, and he wasn't sure that he would be able to talk his way into what he wanted a second time. Somehow, McGonagall seemed to know it too. The way she looked at him, still wringing her hands, she knew. That, of all things, made him feel the worst. He would worry about McGonagall's reaction later though. There was nothing that Harry could do to change the fact that this was happening. Dumbledore was already reaching for the Sorting Hat. He didn't seem to have the same reservations as McGonagall.

"It will only be a moment," Dumbledore said soothingly, "and then you can go back to your dorm. I'm sure that you are quite tired after the trying day you've had." Dumbledore gestured for Harry to sit in one of the chairs in front of his desk, and Harry had no choice but to do so as the Hat was lowered onto his head. The last image Harry had before the brim of the Hat covered his vision entirely was McGonagall sending him a small smile.

"Well, well," the Hat said the moment it sat on his head. "Harry Potter. It is a rare occasion that I get the opportunity to sort a student twice."

"Gryffindor," Harry thought as hard as he could. After all, the Hat had taken his opinion into account the last time. The Hat ignored him though.

"It is always nice to see whether students stick to the path they were on when they were only eleven, or whether they have grown in a decidedly different direction." There was an almost smug tone to the voice that immediately set Harry on edge.

"You were right about me," Harry insisted. "I belong in Gryffindor." For a moment, Harry sat alone in his own head before the Sorting Hat let out a low chuckle.

"Gryffindor has served you well," the Hat agreed. Harry almost sighed with relief until the Hat continued, "I still stand by what I told you during your first Sorting though. You would have done well in Slytherin. You could still do well in Slytherin, in fact."

"I'm a Gryffindor," Harry stubbornly insisted, proving his Gryffindorness if he did say so himself.

"Mr. Potter, rarely is anyone ever one thing and thus rarely do they ever exhibit the traits of one House and one House alone."

This was going about as well as Harry had expected. "But don't you take our opinions into account?"

The Hat let out an unhappy grumble. "I see you have been talking to Albus Dumbledore. That man like to meddle more than is his right. One day that habit of his is going to lead to mistake he can't undo. Yes. I do listen to the students' choice so far in that it is a good indicator of what they value most. Now, tell me. In your first year did you request 'Not Slytherin' because the key values of that House-ambition, determination, resourcefulness- are repugnant to you? Or was it rather because of the words of Rubeus Hagrid and the actions of Draco Malfoy?"

Harry sat frozen, breath shuttering as he couldn't stop himself from considering what the Hat had asked. Hagrid's explanation and Malfoy had been the reason that Harry didn't want to be in Slytherin his first year. Ron hadn't helped the situation either with the way that he had talked about the Houses. It wasn't like Harry thought ambition was a bad thing. He had come to Hogwarts wanting to prove that he deserved to be there, that he didn't need to go back to the Dursley's. And sure, he also wanted to defeat Voldemort, but he wasn't the only one who held that ambition. Determined had been a word used to describe him, considering Harry knew that he was stubborn almost to a fault. As for resourcefulness, he wouldn't have survived growing up on Privet Drive or any of the things that had happened to him since coming to Hogwarts if he wasn't resourceful. Harry didn't want to admit any of that to the Hat though.

"I see it whether you actively tell me or not," the Hat informed him. "Gryffindor might have been the correct choice for you in beginning, but you have relied on your determination and resourcefulness in addition to that bravery Gryffindor has encouraged. Now, more than ever, the House that you fit the most is SLYTHERIN!"

When the Hat lifted off of Harry's head he was met with two very different expressions. Harry looked at McGonagall first, meeting her sad smile with one of his own. She nodded at him, and Harry drummed up that courage Gryffindor had cultivated in order to turn his gaze from his kind former Head of House to the sure to be disappointed look on the headmaster's face.

Dumbledore's eyes weren't twinkling. In fact, the man looked stunned, as though he had never considered that Harry wouldn't be Sorted right back into Gryffindor. He stared down at the Hat in his hands, and to Harry it looked almost as though the Hat was smirking back. "Well," Dumbledore said slowly. "This is an unexpected turn of events, but the Sorting Hat's decision is final. Minerva, if you wouldn't mind calling Severus-"

"Wait!" Harry interrupted, unable to bring himself to feel sorry for cutting Dumbledore off.

"I'm sorry, Harry, but there's nothing to be done. You must be moved to Slytherin House."

"I know," Harry said, his voice breaking as he struggled to put words to what he was feeling. Harry had never had a panic attack before, but he could imagine it felt something like the tightening feeling that gripped his heart. He was drowning in too many emotions to name, but he knew that if he didn't speak quickly then the situation would spiral further out of his control. Harry couldn't go into Slytherin right now, not when everything had slipped away from him so suddenly. They would eat him alive if he went there before he got settled. He needed at least a few hours for the reality of the situation to sink in. For him to figure out how to handle it all without losing his mind.

"I know I have to go to…Slytherin. But is there anywhere else I could stay? Just for tonight? Harry asked, desperately. "Today has just been so much, and I would like to be able to tell Ron and Hermione before the whole school knows."

Dumbledore exchanged a look with McGonagall before turning back to face Harry. "I do not think that is an unreasonable request given the circumstances. You have been through much today, and I'm afraid it is unlikely to get easier any time soon. There are guest rooms at Hogwarts for emergencies or visitors. You may stay in one for the night and inform your friends of the change before breakfast."

"I can arrange for Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley to meet you at the guest rooms so that you may have more privacy than the Great Hall for your conversation," McGonagall added.

"And I can promise you that I will get to the bottom of this, Harry," Dumbledore said. "Severus will have to be informed now, but you may rest assured that you will have the rest of the night to yourself. I truly am sorry."


End file.
